Duterte changes mind, won't create Mamasapano commission

Dharel Placido, ABS-CBN News

President Duterte visits the grave of his mother Soledad 'Nanay Soling' Duterte at the Davao Catholic Cemetery in Davao City on February 4, 2017. Karl Norman Alonzo, Malacanang Photo

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said he is taking back his initial plan to create a commission to probe the Mamasapano encounter.

Duterte said, creating the commission would be redundant as the Office of the Ombudsman is already conducting an investigation into the bloody clash which left 44 elite policemen dead in January 2015.

“I am not going ahead with the creation of the commission because apparently, the Ombudsman has said it is still pending before them. So, I don’t want to have a multiple incongruity especially if one finding fights with the other. So, hintayin ko na lang,” Duterte said.

Last January 24, Duterte met with widows and relatives of most of the slain elite policemen, who are hoping to obtain justice under the new administration. It was during that meeting where Duterte announced the creation of the commission.

The Mamasapano massacre dealt a serious blow to peace talks of the Aquino administration with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The operation was allegedly orchestrated by then-suspended police chief Alan Purisima, who was known for being loyal and close to Aquino.

The main target of the anti-terror raid, Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan, was killed, but at the expense of the cops who clashed with private armed groups, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), and the MILF.